After two years in the Diamond District in East Oakland, business owner Joe Perryman moved The Tree House restaurant fifteen miles south to downtown Hayward last summer. The restaurant has been open since June 2016 and is in the process of creating a new dinner menu as well as extending their hours of...

Somewhere around 80% of Cuba’s industries are owned and operated by the Cuban government, including restaurants. It has been this way since the 1960s when Cuba became a socialist government. Under the socialist regime, the Cuban government made a leveled economic playing field for its citizens, essenti...

Cuban, government-owned supermarkets, otherwise known as bodegas, have been controlled by the Cuban government since Fidel Castro implemented a rations system in 1962. From Castro’s regime to present day, families are required to bring their state-issued ration book, known as la libreta, each time they...

My vegan journey has been in full swing for a month and I feel great. The transition to veganism requires a commitment to regularly consuming plant based foods and exercising daily. Surrounding myself with people who are also vegan and maintain a routine have been essential to strengthening my reserve. In...

We all need water to survive, we need dirt to plant seeds and the mixture of the two creates an element that we need in order to grow. They call this little community in Cuba the "Mud," but not for the way I see it but because it is dirty and poor. Poverty is something that exists but nobody really t...

Shortly after 12 p.m. on a Thursday in Old Havana, a man donned in chef’s outfit is yelling out to people as they pass by in the sweltering sun. The chef is wearing a white hat and a short-sleeve shirt, black pants and shoes, and a scowl that would make Scrooge appear friendly.
He is speaking in...

The one and only man behind the counter is Juan Delgado*; today is his 25th birthday. He works from dawn to dusk, handing out rationed groceries and making marks in people’s ration books in the small government bodega far from the lavish shops and elegant hotels of central Havana. Here in this impoverish...

Fresh off the plane in Havana, Cuba
Wow, what can I say? Cuba has blown my expectations and I only have been here for three days. Day to day life in Havana is vastly different from the United States which we’ve experienced due to the humidity, 1950s cars, and architecture. My fellow classmates and I...

The garbage revolution
The warm water, palm trees and crystal-white sand of the Santa Maria beach were everything I pictured when I used to think of Cuba, a picturesque island in the Caribbean. However, over the past four days, my rosy tourist perspective has disintegrated as my eyes increasingly open t...

Paradise in a dark alley
Old Havana is beautiful during the night; it’s like a never ending fiesta. Parents are out with their children, young couples are taking a stroll while street musicians work their magic, and others are huddled together in the wifi hotspot in front of the public library....

A newly converted vegan experiences temptations that distract from required daily tasks.
Three weeks ago, I became a vegan and it feels great.
My successful transformation is owed in part to with familiarizing myself with veganism and exploring the various food options. I did not expec...

Patriotism or die
After arriving in Cuba, it did not take long to see how the Cubans honor the revolution that occurred over fifty-years ago. I saw many billboards and murals in and around Havana that praise the uprising efforts of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. One can see their faces painted on the s...